Anchor device



Aug. 6, 1968 R. A. GEORGE ANCHOR DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 11, 1967 INVENTOR fivaserA af' BY ATTORNEY Aug}. 5, 1963 R. A. GEORGE 3,395,668 I ANCHOR DEVICE Filed July 11, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY g- 6, 1963 R. A. GEORGE 3,395,668

ANCHOR DEVI CE Filed July 11, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR F0AMrAQQ ATTORNEY United States Patent O F 3,395,668 ANCHOR DEVICE Robert A. George, 175 W. 92nd St., New York, N.Y. 10025 Filed July 11, 1967, Ser. No. 652,534 14 Claims. (Cl. 114-206) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An anchor device especially adapted for use on a small boat and principally for convenient releasing of the anchor and reducing the strains on the anchor, the anchor rope and associated connections resulting from movements of the anchored boat. The anchor is connected to a springloaded reel attached to the boat, a restraining member comprising a length of flexible elastic material being anchored to a special fitting on the boat and detachably connected to a selected point on the rope when the anchor is in operative position, whereby the restraining member coacts with the reel to provide yieldable resistance against the movement of the boat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field f the invention This invention relates to anchor devices, especially for use on small boats, and is particularly directed to means for releasing the anchor and for reducing the strain on the anchor, the anchor rope and associated parts resulting from movements of the anchored boat.

The known art It is a common practice in the anchoring of small boats to drop the anchor over the side of the boat, the anchor rope being affixed to a boat fitting when the anchor is settled in place. Because sudden wave and wind action cause great strains in the anchor rope and connecting fittings when the boat is jerked in a direction away from the anchor, heavy ropes and extra-strong fittings are resorted to to take up the strain. Special winches connected to the rope to alleviate this condition have been found to be unsuited for small boats because of their weight, complexity and cost.

Objectives of the invention My invention has for its main objective the provision of means for reducing the strain on the anchor rope, as well as on its connections, during sudden boat movements. And in connection with this aspect of my invention it is another object thereof to enable relatively thin anchor ropes to be employed, thereby resulting in economies and ease of handling.

Other objects of this invention are the provision of convenient means for effecting a controlled lowering of the anchor, for firmly and easily clamping the rope into yieldable connection with the boat, for storing the anchor when not in use in a position out of engagement with the walls and floor of the boat and thereby preventing a marring of the boats interior, and for storing the anchor rope and associated parts in space-economical manner when not in use.

It is my further object to provide a compact unitary device having all the features above mentioned, that is easily attached and removed from the boat, and that is relatively inexpensive.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawings and description hereinafter given.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiment of this invention comprises 3,395,668 Patented Aug. 6, 1968 a casing containing therein a spring-loaded reel operatively supporting an anchor rope extending out through an aperture in the casing and connected to an anchor of conventional construction. The casing contains a wall extension with a transverse T-slot interengaged with a correspondingly shaped T-bar forming part of a bracket secured to the rim of the boat. Pivotally connected to the top of the casing is a combination rope guide and holder member, this pivotal member having its extremity so shaped that when it is in one limiting position it serves as a guide for the rope of the anchor as it is being lowcred or raised, and when in the opposite limiting position serves as a holder for certain of the components of the device when the latter is in inoperative position.

Attached to said pivotal combination member is one end of a restraining member comprising a length of flexible elastic material, the opposite end being secured to a manually operable clamp adapted for releasable attachment to a portion of the rope of the dropped anchor. The arrangement is such that, with the clamp operatively attached to the rope, the spring-loaded reel and the said restraining member coact to provide yieldable resistance against wind and wave forces urging the boat in a direction away from the anchor, and also permitting movement of the boat toward the anchor, the reel taking up the resultant slack of the rope and the flexible restraining member bending to accommodate such movement.

The said reel casing also carries an anchor cradle into which the anchor fits when not in use. In this position, the said restraining member is wrapped around the casing and held against movement by swinging the said pivotal member into engagement with it.

The said pivotal member also holds the reel assembly against detachment from the said T-bar of the bracket atfixed to the boat when said member is in either of its two opposite limiting positions. When it is in an intermediate position, such as in a vertical plane, it is in nonobstructing relation to the T-slot in the casings said wall extension, thereby permitting the reel assembly to be operatively slid on or off the bracket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the anchor device of this invention operatively applied to a boat with dropped anchor, the restraining member being shown under tension.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of arrows 22.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of FIG. 1 taken along line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the anchor rope, the coacting restraining member and the associated fittings connecting said member with the rope and the boat, a fragment of the boat being shown in section, the said restraining member being shown in full lines, in tension, the broken lines showing the position of said components when the restraining member is in a bent and relaxed position.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of the anchor device, with a boat portion partly in section, showing the anchor within its cradle housing and the other components in their retracted and inoperative positions.

FIG. 6 is a front view of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of the anchor device looking in the direction of arrows 7-7 of FIG. 2, showing the combination rope guide and holder in one of its two operative positions.

FIG. 8 is a view like FIG. 7, but showing said combination member in an intermediate position.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the clamp member of this 1nvention.

FIG. 10 is a part sectional, part front elevational view of said clamp member, the section being taken substantially along line -10 of FIG. 9, a portion of the attached restraining member being shown in section.

FIG. 11 is a view substantially like FIG. 10, but without the restraining member and showing a portion of the anchor rope held by the clamping jaws, the broken lines showing the lever and pawl in their retracted releasing positions.

FIG. 12' is a fragmentary rear view of FIG. 9 looking in the direction of arrows 12-12.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the preferred form of my invention illustrated, a bracket 15 is attached by suitable fasteners to the upper portion of the boat 16, said bracket comprising an angle bar portion with legs 17 and 18 secured by suitable screws to the rim 19 of the boat. Said bracket 15 carries the upstanding bar 20 of T-shaped cross-section for inter-engagement with the wall extension 21 of the upper wall 22 of the casing 23 to be hereinafter describedsaid extension 21 containing the open-ended T-slot 21a extending transversely therealong and proportioned for slidable embracing engagement with said bar 20. The arrangement is such that the entire casing 23 and its associated parts can readily be attached to the boat, whereafter it is locked into place in a manner to be hereinbelow described.

The said casing 23 contains the spring-loaded reel 24 over which is wound the anchor rope 25the specific construction of the reel and spring means not being herein described inasmuch as it is well understood by those skilled in the art, a detailed description thereof not being necessary for an understanding of this invention. Suflice it to say for the purpose of this specification that the reel member 24 is normally yieldably maintained in its retracted position whereby the major portion of said anchor rope 25 is normally being urged into the casing. The said top wall 22 of the casing contains an apertured portion 26 through which the rope 25 extends, there being a ball stop member 27 adapted to overlie said apertured portion 26 to prevent a further drawing in of the rope by the spring-loaded reel 24the arrangement being such as not to interfere with the outward movement of the rope upon its operative unwinding from the reel. Attached to said stop 27 is the relatively short length of rope 28 the outer end of which is attached by linkage 29 to the anchor 30 of conventional construction.

The casing 23 has the front wall 31 and rear wall 31a, and affixed to said front wall is the cradle 32 proportioned to support said anchor when in its inoperative position. In the particular form of cradle illustrated, the said front wall 31 of the casing constitutes the rear Wall of the cradle, there being two inwardly extending flanged walls 33 and 34 which, together with wall 31, define the compartment 35 in which the anchor is set when in its inoperative position, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Pivotally mounted at 36 and 37 to the top of the easing 23 is the combination rope guide and holder 38. This pivotal member 38 is bifurcated, containing two spaced arms 39 and 40 flanking said extension wall 22, said two arms being connected in the region of their outer extremities by the wall 41. The outermost rounded edge 42 of said wall 41 together with two lips 43 and 44 form the channel guideway 45 for the anchor rope. When said pivotal member 38 is swung rearwardly into its operative position shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 7 the said guideway 45 is positioned rearwardly beyond the edge 46 of the rim 19 of the boat. In this position the rope 25, extending outwardly through the said apertured portion 26, extends along and through said guideway 45, whereby when the anchor 30 is operatively released downwardly into the water, the said reel 24 will unwind against the yieldable resistance of its spring mechanism, the rope and the anchor being accordingly guided along its intended path by the walls forming said guideway 45. When said member 38 is swung forwardly into its retracted position shown in FIG. 5 the said wall 41 thereof is positioned for 4.- overlying engagement with the yieldable restraining member 46, to be hereinafter described, when said member is in its inoperative position.

As will be seen from FIGS. 5, 7 the said Wall 41 of the pivotal member 38 is of curved configuration forming a cavity 41a, having two opposing walls 47 and 48, the latter having a boss 49 supporting the pin 50 which extends into said wall 47. A link 51 is supported by said pin, said link being firmly connected to one end of the yieldable restraining member 46, the opposite end of said restraining member being attached to the clamp member 52 to be hereinafter described. It is preferred that the said yieldable member 46 be made of heavy flexible rubber or similar elastic material.

Said clamp member 52 has body portion 53 containing a handle portion 53a adapted for manual grasping, said handle portion being coactively associated with lever 54 having a flange 55 adapted for receiving the pressing action of the fingers of the hand, the underside of said flange being in engagement with the spring 56 anchored to the said body portion 53. The said lever 54 contains an arm 57 which is pivotally mounted to the wall 58 of said body portion 53, the outermost point of said arm 57 having a pin 59 in slidable engagement with the slot 60 of the pawl 61, the latter also being pivotally attached to the said wall 58, the pivotal connection being at 62. The innermost edge 63 of said pawl is serrated and is engageable with the coacting serrated base 64 of the channel 64a within said body portion 53. The parts are so proportioned and positioned that the said spring 56 normally urges the said flange 55 outwardly, as shown in FIG. 10, so as normally to urge said pawls serrated edge 63 towards serrated base 64. Upon an operative depression of the flange 55 against the action of spring 56, the arm 57 will be caused to rotate about its pivot in the direction of arrow A, whereby the pin 59 in engagement with the slotted portion 60 will actuate the pawl 61 in the direction of the arrow B, thereby separating the serrated edge 63 of the pawl from the said inner serrated base 64.

It will be noted that when the said pawl is in its retracted position shown in FIG. 11, the said channel 64a, defined by the walls 66, 67 and said serrated base 64, forms a free passageway. The arrangement is hence such that when the pawl 61 is in its said retracted position, the anchor rope 25 can operatively be positioned within said passageway-the channel 64a. When it is desired, according to the method of using this invention, to operatively affix thesaid clamp 52 to the anchor rope 25, the said flange 55 is depressed and the clamp placed over the rope, with a selected portion of the rope within said channel. Thereafter, upon a release of said flange, the said spring 56 will urge the said pawl inwardly, whereby the rope 25 will be clamped between said two serrated portions 63 and 64.

In the operation of dropping the anchor, the said pivotal member 38 is brought to its operative position illustrated in FIG. 1 and then the anchor operatively lowered, the anchor slowly descending due to the restraining action of the spring loaded reel 24. When the anchor finally settles itself into place, the clamp 52 is grasped and moved outwardly beyond the boat until the said restraining member 46 is in a straight but unstrained condition, substantially parallel to the anchor rope 25; and at this point the clamp is afiixed to the anchor rope in the manner above described. The device is now in operative position.

Any movement of the boat away from the position of the anchor tends to dislodge it and induce a strain within the anchor rope. However, since the resilient restraining member 46 is afiixed to the said member 38, which itself is attached to the boat, the strain resulting from such movement will in part be taken up by the restraining member, thereby both relieving the boat from the possible adverse effects of a sudden jerk due to wave or wind action, and also relieving the anchor rope 25 from a considerable portion of the strain. During this action the restraining member will be stretched to a limiting length, and as indicated in FIGURES 1 and 4. While the spring-loaded reel 24 permits a movement of the boat relative to the anchor, the restraining member 46, while permitting a movement to the extent of its resiliency, will also, because of its elasticity, exercise yieldable rerstaint upon such movement. In the event the direction of the waves or winds is such as to cause the boat to move towards the anchor, the restraining member 46, being flexible, will bend, as indicated in FIG. 4, and any slack of the anchor rope 25 will be taken up by the springloaded reel 24. There is thus a coaction between the restraining member 46 and the spring-loaded reel 24 to permit strain-relieving movements between the boat and the anchor. This coaction enables an anchor rope to considerably less thickness and strength to be employed with this invention than is possible with conventional constructions in which the entire pull of the boat against the anchor must be resisted by the rope alone.

When it is desired to pull up anchor, the clamp 52 is released from its grip, and the anchor is manually pulled upwardly, the reel 24 taking up the rope in known manner. This action continues until the said ball stop 27 is brought into engagement with the wall around said aperture 26 of the wall 22, at which point the reel is held against further unwinding. The anchor 30 is then operatively positioned within the said cradle 32, as illustrated. The restraining member 46 is then wound around the underside of the casing 23 and then over the top of the anchor as illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 whereafter the pivotal member 38 is swung back into its forward inoperative position at which the said lip portion 43 thereof overlies and engages said restraining member 46, thereby holding said member and the clamp 52 against detachment.

Should it be desired to remove the entire reel assembly from the boat, the said pivotal member 38 is swung upwardly substantially into a vertical position as shown in FIG. 8. It will be noted that there is a recessed portion 68 in arm 39, so that in this position there is no obstruction to the slidable movement of the internally T-slotted extension wall 21 along the interengaged T-shaped bar until the entire reel assembly is disengaged. When the device is to be reassembled, the slotted wall 21 is operatively slid over the bar 20, and the pivotal member 38 moved from its vertical position, thereby causing the said arm 39 to intercept a portion of the T-slot in wall 21, and thus operatively locking said wall 21 to said bar 20, the opposite end of the slot being obstructed by the arm 40.

In the above description, the invention has been disclosed merely by way of example and in preferred manner; but obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any form or manner of practicing same, except insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An anchor device for attachment to the peripheral portion of a boat, comprising a casing, a spring-loaded reel rotatably supported within said casing, an anchor rope operatively wound around said reel, an anchor connected to said rope, a restraining member comprising a length of flexible elastic material extending outwardy from the boat, holding means on the boat and attached to the adjacent end of said restraining member, and a releasable clamp attached to the other end of said restraining means, said clamp being positioned and proportioned for attachment to a selected adjacent portion of said ro-pe when the anchor is in an operative anchoring position, whereby the said restaining member and said springloaded reel will coact to provide yieldable resistance to the movement of the boat in a direction away from said anchor and permit movement of the boat in a direction toward said anchor.

2. An anchor device according to claim 1, said holding means comprising a pivotal member movable between two limiting positions, said pivotal member having a rope guideway so positioned and proportioned that when said pivotal member is in one of its said limiting positions said guideway will be in a position for slidable engagement with said rope operatively extending from said reel.

3. An anchor device according to claim 2, said restraining member being proportioned for positioning in bent configuration adjacent said casing when in inoperative position, said pivotal member when in the other of its said limiting positions being in engagement with said restraining member in its said inoperative position, where by said restraining member will be held against displacement.

4. An anchor device according to claim 2, said restraining member being proportioned for enveloping said casing when in inoperative position, said pivotal member when in the other of its said limiting positions being in overlying engagement with a portion of said restraining member when the latter is in its said inoperative position, whereby said restraining member is held against separation from said casing.

5. An anchor device according to claim 1, said casing having an anchor cradle extending therefrom proportioned for receiving and supporting said anchor when not in use.

6. An anchor device according to claim 2, said casing having an anchor cradle extending therefrom proportioned for receiving and supporting said anchor when not in use, said restraining member having a portion thereof in overlying engagement with said anchor when the latter is operatively positioned in said cradle, said pivotal member when in the other of its said limiting positions being in overlying relation to the portion of said restraining member in engagement with said anchor, whereby said restraining member will be held in its said inoperative position betwen said anchor and said pivotal member.

7. An anchor device according to claim 1, said casing having a wall containing an apertured portion therein, said rope extending from said reel through said apertured portion, and a stop member attached to said rope at a point outside said casing, said stop member being engageable With said wall adjacent said aperture-d portion for limiting the inward movement of said rope into said casing.

8. An anchor device according to claim 3, said casing having a wall extension connected to said peripheral portion of the boat, said pivotal member having a bifurcated portion with two arms flanking and pivotally connected to said extension.

9. An anchor device according to claim 8, and a bracket attached to said peripheral portion of the boat, said bracket and said extension being slidably interengaged.

10. An anchor device according to claim 9, said bracket having an upstanding bar of T-shaped cross-section, said extension having a correspondingly shaped slot, both arms of said pivotal member being in obstructing relation to said slot when the pivotal member is in either of its said two limiting positions.

11. An anchor device according to claim 9, said bracket having an upstanding bar of T-shaped cross-section, said extension having a correspondingly shaped slot, one arm of said pivotal member having a recessed portion, said recessed portion being in non-obstructing relation to said slot when the pivotal member is in a predetermined position intermediate its said limiting position, thereby permittng operatve sliding engaging and disengaging movements of said extension with respect to said bar.

12. An anchor device according to claim 2, said restraining member being attached to said pivotal member.

13. An anchor device according to claim 2, said guideway being of channeled configuration and positioned at the terminal of said pivotal member, said restraining member being attached to said pivotal member at the region of said guideway.

14. An anchor device according to claim 1, said clamp having a body portion attached to said restraining membet; said body portion having a manual grasping portion, a rope-receiving channel with a serrated base, and a wall portion; a lever member pivotally mounted on said wall portion and having finger-receiving means; a pawl pivotally mounted on said wall portion and having a serrated edge 'in facing relation to and engageahle with said serrated base; said lever heing operatively connected to said pawl whereby opposite operative movements of said lever will actuate said pawl towards and away from said ser- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1964 Sheppert-on 114-230 4/1967 Hopkins "114-230 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner. TRYGVE M, BLIX, Assistant Examiner. 

